


when was the last time you saw the sky?

by flowers_bloom



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Don't try this at home kiddos, F/M, Gen, My First Work in This Fandom, Orpheus is here now!, Slice of Life, Tags May Change, basically one big ambiguous speculation, can we just please save seph, cerberus is seph's baby, escaping hadestown should only be done by a trained professional, i had some betas for the first chapter but no guarantee after that, man oh man don't we love angst, persephone needs a hug, repetition? ig?, this is a funnel for projection don't get me wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25935571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowers_bloom/pseuds/flowers_bloom
Summary: The goddess of spring decides to finally start fixing things. How she goes about it, however, may cause more problems than she wants.Or, Persephone's disappearance, and the direct aftermath.
Relationships: Cerberus & Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Hades/Persephone (Hadestown), Orpheus & Persephone (Hadestown), Orpheus & Persephone and Cerberus
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	when was the last time you saw the sky?

There was light, streaming in through the cracks in the closed blinds. A large, brown suitcase had been thrown onto the bed in the center of the room, the goddess of spring’s bed, and was filled to the brim with summertime and springtime. Right next to her, another suitcase sat on the floor, smaller and stuffed with clothing. Not the fun things, of course, unceremonious was a good word, thick black jackets and sturdy boots and rough, durable dresses. There was no point in trying to bring along anything flashy, her beloved green wide-sleeves would have to stay. She’d managed to squeeze her fur coat, her expensive, elegant fur coat with the green gradient, to the bottom of the suitcase, but she had to pawn it off later when she had some money. 

She finished zipping up her suitcase. It was heavy, the flowers and seeds and fruit weren’t weightless. She took the season suitcase in one hand, the clothing in another, and the adrenaline kicked in. She felt her heart speed up, the thumping was deafening her. She grabbed the straps on the suitcases, and tried to focus on the weight. If she dropped them, she could be stopped, and if she was stopped, she would never get out. The train would leave without her, for the conductor could only wait for her for so long, and she would be here, explaining to her husband why she had tried to go up top without telling him. 

Where had it all gone wrong? 

She knew the answer to that, she did. It was always flawed, her and Hades, always cracks in their relationship. They could destroy the world together, if they fought, and they both knew this. They married anyway, thinking that they could never fight, and that if they did, they would remain calm and reasonable and love each other. Never go to bed angry. Do what the other gods couldn’t. Love each other. Be confident that their six months was enough, that it was a good balance. They agreed. It could work, they thought. Love each other. That was enough. They couldn’t kill. They couldn’t destroy. And yet, he kept coming earlier and earlier to pick her up. And yet, she drank until she passed out. And yet he kept building factories and she kept seeing how the world was turning. Her lover was lucky, he only got what was left, the aftermath, the sold, the bought. 

She could only stay complicit for so long. 

Her suitcases banged against her legs as she ran, the pitter-patter of her flats were thankfully quiet. Across the hallway, down the steps, right at the left bedroom, down the steps again. The heat from the machinery downstairs was most felt down here, she thought, big windows and awful air conditioning didn’t help. She could see, outside, the dead working on the walls and the power grid underneath the main work stations. _This_ was supposed to keep her here? The stifling humidity, the blinding light, the repeating clangs of hammers and nails? _T_ _his?_ She stayed at the end of the windows, wishing she could just run across the floor to the door as she had done with the others. Unfortunately, Hades had two offices, one on the third floor where he signed deals and made sure dead souls were properly bound to the underworld, and one on this floor, where he did everything else. He had passed out in there, tonight, and if she woke him up, she didn’t think she would be getting on that train. 

She slowly started to walk, breaths becoming quieter and lagging. Hades, her husband. Hades, who loved her, and for a period of time, loved her well. She felt herself getting nostalgic as she walked, as odd as that was. They played dominos. She always won. He told her he let her. She told him he was just bad. He smiled and told her that he never learned how to play. She told him he would have to learn. He told her she didn’t want to - he had better things to do. She told him that he didn’t. He told her work. She told him that she was more important than work. He smiled wider and told her damn right. He kissed her. She told Hades she loved him. That was true. Persephone loved Hades very much. She still did. She loved him more than the moon loved the stars, more than fire loved paper, more than the wind loved cold, more than birds loved song. 

But she loved up top more. She loved the flowers that would die without her there, the dried yellow grass, the shriveling crops. The humans who enjoyed them, she loved them too. All of their suffering was too much, she thought, they were starving. Cold and starving and poor, dealing with her missteps, selling their souls for food. She had to help them as much as she could. Hades had his warehouses, his workers, the other underworld gods shut up in their villas across the Styx. She wasn’t leaving forever, she tried to tell herself, she was bound here, she would heal the world and come back. Hades could deal with that, the underworld could deal with that.

She had crossed the first floor. She put her suitcases in one hand, dug into her pocket, found a hairpin, jammed it into the doorlock, and began to try to unlock it. She’d tried this before with a string of mostly-successes, and after a few seconds, the door was thrown open. She rearranged her suitcases again, and ran. She couldn’t think about Hades anymore, she couldn’t, she knew it would simply make her turn back. She, instead, focused on the heat, the clangs, what she would be leaving. Up on top, it would be better. On top, she would have quiet and darkness and the warmth she brought. Good food she made. She passed some workstations, thankfully the dead were looking down. 

The wall was soon in front of her, smelling like sweat and brick and mortar, and it made her a little sick. Spotlights were attached to the top of it, and it seemed like all of Hadestown was working on that wall. A wall to keep everyone inside. A wall, built up by everyone. Kept them free, they murmured as they worked. Free. Free. She could swear they actually thought that, that was going through their mind. We are free. She ran faster, she had no intention to throw up on her way out. She could leave this, she could, she’d always wanted to. She slid through an opening in the wall, and the train was visible. She smiled a little, that was her ticket to saving the world, that was all she needed. No alarms going off that she could hear. Her legs felt like jelly, so she slowed down a little. She was going. She was going to rebuild the world. She was going to help the people who deserved it. Change was coming, she could feel it in her body, change that she would bring. She would finally make the masses happy, happy, it would be okay. 

Her good mood was suddenly swallowed whole. No, she thought, _N_ _o. Not him._ Of all of the things that could’ve stopped her, why _him?_

A dog had appeared in front of her, a large dog with three furry heads and a large, black furry body. He seemed to smile as he came closer to Persephone, and the middle head gave her a lick on her cheek. Baby blue collars were around each head, and he had come from the doghouse a few hundred feet out. _Not here. Not now._

“Cerbie,” she said, softly. He laid down, rolled onto his side, and she smiled. Her baby wanted belly rubs, how adorable. Against her better judgment, she leaned down and began to pet him, and she laughed with her eyes full of tears. 

“I’m gonna miss ‘ya, Cerbie,” she said, “I’m gonna miss you, and you, and you, an awful lot.” 

He barked. 

She laughed more, a strangling, stifling sound. 

“You’re the best boys, do you know that? The best boys there ever were.” 

He smiled, at least it looked like that to her. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed there, wishing she could bring her baby with her, thinking about what it would be like to share a motel with him. She’d work all day for his food, and make sure he was safe and good, and they would cuddle together at night. Almost like the word home, almost. 

Her mind drifted. Home used to be a cottage, with her Ma. Her Ma. Ma and dogs. Ma hated dogs. She would push them out of her laps, out of her house, and cats too. No animal would be present in her house, only the delicate flowers and bright trees and maybe grassy fields outside. Those were worthy of her and her daughter. The cottage that used to contain her and her mother was now overgrown, she’d seen it. Vines growing through the windows, roses through the cracks in the bricks, and it made her want to cry. 

Her Ma’s house. 

Her _late_ Ma’s house. 

Persephone’s mother’s body, a knife in her chest, ichor spilling. She was dead. She is dead. A mortal found with her food stash a few days later. It had gotten so bad, _so_ bad, they were murdering gods if they had food. She had started to cry, really cry, and Cerberus sat up and licked her tears away. It only made her cry more. 

If her mother was being murdered for her food, things had gotten bad. 

If food was so sparse, she had to make it come back again. 

If Hades wouldn’t let her go up, she had to do it herself. 

Ichor spilling out of her mother. Ichor spilling out of her mother. Ichor spilling out of her mother. 

Her mother. 

She had to get out of here, out of Hadestown, for her mother’s sake. She wrapped her arms around Cerberus, but found herself unable to let go. The train whistle sounded. She had to get over there, she had to leave. Yet, she couldn’t leave Cerberus alone, she didn’t want to. She needed someone to love. Someone to care about, someone to get rid of her tears. 

She sniffed, wiped the dog spit and tears off her face, and asked, “Cerbie, do you wanna come with Mama on a vacation?” 

The dog’s heads all nodded. They barked, unanimously. He had never been out of Hadestown before, he seemed very happy. She picked up her suitcases again, and made a motion with her head. Come on, Cerbie, let’s go. They ran through the blank landscape, dead land, how long did they bound and leap towards the train, two miles, three miles, four? Neither of them tired. They arrived at the train station, both hysterical with smiles and faint laughter. She was already babbling goodbyes, not even on the train, goodbye wall and workers and heat and dead land. 

“Load up, Cerbie! Load up!” She cried. Cerberus climbed the steps, and was on the train, and another whistle came. The train began to move, slowly, and yet she swung around. She was in the train car, and shut the door. She had made it. She was here. 

Cerberus ran up and down the train aisles, and Persephone sat her suitcases down. She fell back into a red-velvet lined chair, her legs meat, she felt unable to walk. A bit of deranged laughter escaped her mouth, goodbye manor! Goodbye riches! Goodbye watchtowers and royal title! Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye mother! Goodbye long green dresses! Goodbye jewelry! Goodbye good booze and good drugs! Goodbye Hekate and Thanatos! Goodbye everyone! Goodbye Hades, my darkness, my light, my dearest-darling-damned! _Ha!_

She threw her head back, calmed her laughter, and began to cry again.


End file.
